What was Zion Williamson’s ranking?

Zion Williamson was a good player when he was younger, but wasn’t on the radar mostly due to his height. A six inch growth spurt during his eighth grade year and first year on the Spartanburg Day varsity team changed everything.

It’s weird now to think Zion wasn’t always a the best player in his class, but going into his first season of college, he wasn’t listed as the #1 player in his class by any of the top recruiting sites.

For example, ESPN listed Williamson at No. 2 while most of the big scouting websites including Rivals, Scout.com, and 247 Sports ranked Zion at No. 5, coincidentally behind his Duke teammates, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish.

Freshman Year

By the end of his freshman year in high school, Wofford became the first college to offer Zion a basketball scholarship. That was just the beginning for Williamson. The summer of 2015 followed his breakout freshman campaign when he joined the South Carolina Hornets AAU squad, where he played with fellow 2019 NBA prospect Ja Morant, where Zion evolved into one of the best players in his class.

Sophomore Year

Zion built on his breakout freshman season by averaging 28.3 points on an amazing 73.6% from the field. He also pulled down 10.4 rebounds. By the finish of his high school Sophomore season, Zion had 16 NCAA Division I offers in the summer of 2016. Those scholarships included the University of Florida and two scholarships offers from two big South Carolina universities in Clemson and the University of South Carolina. That summer he also moved AAU teams when he joined the SC Supreme.

Junior Year

Going into Williamson’s junior year at Spartanburg Day, he was the big name in the 2018 class and a consensus five-star recruit. IN fact, Williamson held the number one player ranking per 247Sports. That summer saw Williamson dominating AAU tournaments with his SC Supreme AAU team against other big name players like Romeo Langford and LaMelo Ball. This only served to cement his status as the number one player in his class.

Senior Year

During his senior and final high school season, Zion Williamson committed to Duke on January 20, 2018 in a live ESPN telecast. Zion was also considering Clemson, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He would join fellow top recruits Canada’s R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish from Pennsylvania. He finished his Senior season with another state championship; scoring as many points as his opponents in a blowout win over Christian Academy 76-51.